By: Johnson, et al. S.B. No. 691
(Nevárez)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to suspension of a driver's license for persons convicted
of certain misdemeanor drug possession offenses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 521.372(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as otherwise provided by Section 521.3725, a [A]
person's driver's license is automatically suspended on final
conviction of:
(1) an offense under the Controlled Substances Act;
(2) a drug offense; or
(3) a felony under Chapter 481, Health and Safety
Code, that is not a drug offense.
SECTION 2. Subchapter P, Chapter 521, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 521.3725 to read as follows:
Sec. 521.3725. MISDEMEANOR DEFENDANTS. (a) This section
applies only to a person:
(1) who is convicted of a misdemeanor possession
offense under Section 481.1161, 481.117, 481.118, or 481.121,
Health and Safety Code, other than an offense for which punishment
is increased under Section 481.134 of that code; and
(2) whose driver's license is not subject to
suspension for that offense or another offense arising from the
same criminal episode under a provision other than Section 521.372.
(b) The driver's license of a person described by Subsection
(a) is automatically suspended as provided by Section 521.372,
except that:
(1) the suspension does not begin until the 180th day
after the date of the person's final conviction; and
(2) the person's license is no longer subject to
suspension under Section 521.372 if, before the date the suspension
is to begin under Subdivision (1):
(A) the department receives notification from
the clerk of the court in which the person was convicted that the
person has successfully completed an educational program under
Section 521.374 or equivalent education in a residential treatment
facility authorized under that section; and
(B) the person pays a fee in an amount that is
equivalent to the sum of all fees applicable to a suspension and
reinstatement of a license under this subchapter, regardless of
whether the person's license is suspended or reinstated.
(c) The period of suspension for a person described by
Subsection (a) who does not complete the educational program
described by Subsection (b)(2)(A) and pay the fees described by
Subsection (b)(2)(B) is 180 days, except that the license may be
reinstated during that period as provided by Section 521.377(a-1).
SECTION 3. Section 521.374(a), Transportation Code, as
amended by Chapters 851 (S.B. 1070), 1004 (H.B. 642), and 838 (S.B.
202), Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, is
reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(a) A person whose license is suspended under Section
521.372 may:
(1) attend an educational program, approved by the
Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation [Department of State
Health Services] under rules adopted by the Texas Commission of
Licensing and Regulation [executive commissioner of the Health and
Human Services Commission] and the department, that is designed to
educate persons on the dangers of drug abuse; or
(2) successfully complete education on the dangers of
drug abuse approved by the Department of State Health Services as
equivalent to the educational program described by Subdivision (1),
while the person is a resident of a facility for the treatment of
drug abuse or chemical dependency, including:
(A) a substance abuse treatment facility or
substance abuse felony punishment facility operated by the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice under Section 493.009, Government
Code;
(B) a community corrections facility, as defined
by Section 509.001, Government Code; or
(C) a chemical dependency treatment facility
licensed under Chapter 464, Health and Safety Code.
SECTION 4. Section 521.377, Transportation Code, is amended
by adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
(a-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (a)(2), the court shall
end the period of suspension and immediately reinstate the license
of a person described by Section 521.3725 on notification described
by Subsection (a)(1), provided the person pays a fee in an amount
that is equivalent to the sum of all fees applicable to a suspension
and reinstatement of a license under this subchapter.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect on the 91st day after the
date the office of the attorney general publishes in the Texas
Register a finding that:
(1) the legislature of this state has adopted a
resolution expressing the legislature's opposition to a law meeting
the requirements of 23 U.S.C. Section 159 in suspending, revoking,
or denying the driver's license of a person convicted of a drug
offense for a period of six months;
(2) the governor of this state has submitted to the
United States secretary of transportation:
(A) a written certification of the governor's
opposition to the enactment or enforcement of a law required under
23 U.S.C. Section 159; and
(B) a written certification that the legislature
has adopted the resolution described by Subdivision (1) of this
section; and
(3) the United States secretary of transportation has
responded to the governor's submission and certified that highway
funds will not be withheld from this state in response to the
modification or full or partial repeal of the law required under 23
U.S.C. Section 159.